The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-04-07
INDUSTRIAL TOPICS.
BeIerAS Obtained from Reduc-
ing a Portion of the Soil to
lmpalpable Powder.
Hogs Are Still the Most Profitable Ami
mails that Most Farmers Can Keep.
P~ulveriZings Soil.

Pulverizing. Soil.
The objects sought to be accomplished
oy stirring the ground by most kinds
II implements are ordinarily three
Killing weeds and grass that would in
;erfere with the growth of the plant we
desire to raise, loosening the soil so
shat the sprouts of seeds and the
roots Of plants may readily pass
through it, pulverizing Il portion of the
soil to such an extent that it will be dis
solved by the rain that falls upon it and
thereby become food for growing plants.
Prehaps we undertake to do too much
when we try to accom- rlish all these
results with the same implement and
1t a single operation. We may bury
weeds and grass and at the same time
make the soil that covers them suf-
ficiently loose to allow the tender
sprouts Of seeds and the young roots of
plants pass through it readily. These
two things are accomplished by the use
Of the plow, the cultivator. and certain
kinds of harrows. But by the con-
tinued use of any or of all of them only
aminute portion of the soil is reduced
to a fine powder that is capable of be-
ing readily dissolved and not in a con-
dition to be absorbed by the roots of
plants and carried through them by
the sap. All the substance that's pro-
duce the growth of plants enter them
in the form of gas or liquid. Plants
take no solid food.
The amount of mineral matter that
is in any of our grasses or cultivated
plants is quite small and is represented
by the ash that remains after they are
burned. Still, strange as it may ap-
pear, when we consider the abundance
of it, cultivated plants often suffer for
the want Of food thatis contained in the
soil in which they grow. Nearly every
plant requires mineral food in the form
of lime, silica, potash and phosphorus.
These are all found in ordinary soils in
sufficient quantities to supply the plants
that grow in them, but they are not in
a condition to be dissolved. They are
all in hard masses on which water has
Hardly any effect. If they were in a
soluble form they were leached out by
the rains that fell on the soil years ago
and were carried into wa~ter-courses
before the land was brought under Gull
tivation. To make a new supply avail
able some portions of the soil must be
completely pulverized so that water
will readily act upon it. The finer any
solid substance is made the greater will
be the surface on which water can act
and the larger will be the amount dis
solved. The druggist understands this,
and he accordingly first breaks to
pieces, then grinds, and finally triurates
in his mortar the solid substances he
wishes to dissolve.
Scientific agriculturists have always
acknowledged the necessity of pulveriz-
ing a portion of the soil, and not a few
practical farmers have discovered
the benefit of so doing. The old
Roman, Colamella, who wrote on
agriculture some two thousand years
ago, stated that 'soil should be reduc-
ed to dust to be of value to plants"
About the year 1918, there was publish
ed in England a little work entitled:
"a New System of Cultivation Without
Lime, Dung, o. Summer Fallows, as
Practiced at the Knowl Farm, in the
County of Sussex" The author was
Maj. Gen. Alexander Beatson, who had
seen service in various countries,
whore he had observed the system of
agriculture followed, and was for sew
eral years governor of the island of
ST. Helena, where he introduced many
Improvements in the management of
land. The work attracted great at
tention in Great Britain and France.
and was republished in this country at
the solicitation of the Philadelphia
Society for the Promotion of Agricul-
tUre. The author of this work con-
tended that more blowing was done
than was necessary for the production
of good crops, and that the plows in
ordinary use were much larger and
heavier than they need to be and re-
quired too much power to draw them.
He recommended the employment of
horse-hoes, .scariiers, and even spoke
. good word for the little substitute for
plows used in China, India, and
Asiatic Turkey. 81,
The work was mainly devoted, how
ever, to detailing experiments i'll re-
lation to the benefits derived from
burning clay, mari, and common soil,
reducing them to an impalpable, pow
der. applying this dust to soil that was
to be devoted to cultivated crops, and,
to prevent its being blown away, COW
ering it to the depth of an inch or
more with some suitable implement.
His best results were obtained from the
use of common clay that was burned
kiln and then pulverized and ap-
piled to the soil. He found that the
clay could be treated in the most adj
v~antageous manner by putting it into
the kiln in large pieces in a moist state
and allowing the water in it to be con-
vcrted into steam. Clay that was first
steamed and then dried and burned
crumbled easily and was readily re-
sdnced to a fine dust. Treated in this
n large proportions of it become
soluble In water and proved to be an
excellent fertilizer. Directions were
also given in this work for steaming
and burning clay and mari by putting
them on heaps Of stumps. brush. peat